13 posts from September 2009

Wed 30th Sept 09, 8.15pm

Don't ask why, but I stumbled across this Youtube clip and nearly wet myself laughing.  Brilliant editing!

Sun 27th Sept 09, 7.40pm

I have been mostly :-

• reading "The Time Traveller's Wife*" - sci-fi romance, surprisingly enjoyable
  
• watching "The Young Victoria" at our favourite indie cinema
  
• doing badly at the pub quiz
• hating ISA Server more every time I use it
  
• losing an hour's sleep (the clocks have gone forward in NZ - now +12 hrs)
• developing RSI from playing too much Wii

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it"  -  John Maxwell.

*  There's a chain of bookshops in New Zealand called Whitcoulls (good, but not as cool as Artie B's) and I've become obsessed by their "Top 100 Books" display. 

I don't know how it's calculated, but it's a varied collection of "must read" books, and as a lifelong bookworm I'm stung by how few I have actually read - only around 15.  Admittedly some are chick-lit (Marian Keyes, Austen) and others unappealing (The Bible, Edmonds Cookbook), but I still feel like it's mocking me every time I walk past it.

I've played right into the hands of their evil brainwashing executives (aka Marketing) and tailored my reading selection to start ticking off some of these classics.   I've already done Life of Pi and started on The Time Traveller's Wife, both of which are soon to be released as films, and both have been rewarding reads, so perhaps there's some good to come out of my insecurity...  next up:  To Kill a Mockingbird.

Sun 27th Sept 09, 7.30pm

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has been doing quite well since he ousted Helen Clarke back in November, with little public criticism or major gaffes as yet.   My buddy Cam installed video conferencing kit at his home and showed him how to use it, and said he's a "bloody nice bloke".

Here he is popping up on The David Letterman Show last week during a tour to the US, giving the Top 10 Reasons to Visit New Zealand.   As a Pom I particularly enjoyed the "we're like the English but without the attitude" line!

Wed 23rd Sept 09, 2pm

Has it really been 25 years since I wasted whole days at my Acorn Electron, trying to dock my spaceship into a rotating polygon "space station" while listening to Huey Lewis & The News?

Today's gamers will rightly wet themselves at the crude graphics and unchanging gameplay, but for my generation it was seriously addictive, state of the art gaming.   (Hey it had to fit into 32k of memory, give it a break!!)

And for the record I made "Dangerous" but never "Elite".  And I never traded in slaves.

Elite

BBC_Micro_Elite_screenshot

Mon 21st Sept 09, 4.30pm

I have been mostly :-

• Relieved my hearing test reported as normal - decades of Walkman abuse & rock gigs haven't deafened me, thankfully!
  
• Moving on from Checkpoint to Windows 2008.  Good old IT and the joys of neverending study....
• Trying to get to grips with The Force Unleashed on the Wii.  No less than THREE tutorials!   Still resorting to waving the controller around randomly like a geek raver.
• Giving up on Rugby Union - it's CRAP!  (Yes Dean I'm biting back!)  League all the way (up the Rhinos)
  
• Writing Hull City's season off.  Positive we're going down, after losing the 6-pointer at home to Birmingham.  Brown's days are numbered - bring on Strachan.
• Looking at open homes with Wor Lass.  Not committing just yet, but worth seeing how far your money goes over here.

"They say a woman's work is never done.  Perhaps if they were a little more organised ..."   Jimmy Carr.

Thu 17th Sept 09, 6.45pm

Another cuteless (cute + useless) website. The name says it all - Animals with Lightsabers.

Hamster

Wed 16th Sept 09, 8.30pm

We've had the Wii console for a few weeks now and decided to design a Wii Mii character for each other.  Wor Lass' Mii is a bit generic, but the one for The Boy Genius is pretty spot on (in the orange shirt behind me). My Wii looks like my twin!  He's even got the same lousy taste in shirts ....

IMAG0069

IMAG0074b

Mon 14th Sept 09, 10pm

What happens when you don't punctuate the autocue properly.  Worthy of Ron Burgundy.

Mon 14th Sept 09, 3.20pm

I have been mostly :-

• Overloaded and juggling 101 jobs at work.  Am starting to delegate ruthlessly or drop anything not urgent.
• Getting new work visas sorted so we don't have to worry about how long Residency takes (if ever).  Now Wor Lass can get a job and stop going climbing the walls with boredom at home!
• Cooking up my first Chilli - quite a kick to it but worked out OK, everyone's still alive.
• Studying for CCSA for what feels like months, and not much closer to being ready for the exam.
• Spending 40 of your English pounds on new music via iTunes - damn you Genius and your recommendations!
• Having a professional and productive trip to Auckland, only to leave my half-read Rebus novel on the plane.  D'oh!
• Getting totally addicted to Wii Mario Cart.   Its-a me, Mario!   Shame it's only a 1-week rental.
• Starting up the exercise again.  Gym's gone up 25% in 3 months so it'll be running until pay day.

"Today, you have 100% of your life left." -- Tom Landry

Mon 14th Sept 09, 3.15pm

Loved this, with thanks to www.wservernews.com for highlighting it - the sounds make it so much funnier!